Best trailerable small boat for rough water

[Radiater]

Not looking for a pissing match.

What is the best legally trailerable boat...ie 8' 6" beam or less with no permit for fishing those borderline days..like North 15 to 20 for fishing out of places like Oregon Inlet, Hatteras or Va Beach.

You want to get 30 to 40 miles out for tuna without getting beat too bad and get back. Need a tough boat that rides reasonably well and can run a slow speeds on plane when necessary.

Cannot afford or want a battle wagon and do not want a charter catching fish for me. (No offense intended toward charters...just rather catch my own on my own boat).

My thoughts so far...World Cat 27, Regulator 26/23, Albemarle 24, Carolina Classic 25, Whitewater 28.

Are there some customs or commercial boats I haven't thought of?

Opinions appreciated and preferably from experience.

[LT01]

Take a look at the Southport, sold in Chesapeake at Ski Boats Unlimited.

I had an oportunity to fish on one for the first time this year out of OI in some pretty sporty conditions. I was very impressed with the ride and how dry she was.

Good luck in your search...

[Holy Smoke]

Regulator 23 end of story

[Bligh]

As good as a regulator with the same 24 degree V bottom.I fish out of Hatteras village for most of may and it all comes down to Money, Taste and Abilitie. Last year I saw a flat bottom carolina skiff 15 miles off catching Mahi Mahi in 2to 4 ft seas.

[Questsportfishing]

1972 formula hull $1,000.00, fuel tanks $1,400.00, new pumps wires paint and epoxy $5,500.00 a set of even used yama's $5,000.00 .... coming home in some real bad weather priceless!

[tmack92]

I had the oppurtunity to take a ride on a world cat this season, and hands down the best ride I've ever experienced. We cut through 5-7's like nothing and I was amazed. That style boat is simply amazing and so much better than a standard hull....IMO of course

[Fortunate One]

I'm with Tmack on this one.

I've driven on many and owned a 24' CC in board diesel. They all did the job, but when I got a chance to ride on a cat well it was a whole different experience. Trust me I'd take that 24'er further than most would dare in search of tuna.

Since the smaller boats will tend to pound from time to time, and I don't care whose model it is or what the dead rise is, once you're in a true 3' close in chop, you're going to get fatigued by the end of the day on any monohull CC.

The cats tend to eat up the slop and chop and I believe they will extend your fishing time as well as let you get out in conditions that you might not want to take a monohull out in for fear of losing fillings.

I'm not knocking any boats here I'm just stating in my opinion that if it were me, I'd be looking at Cats.

I've experienced the ride and after coming off too many waves and almost sustaining a back injury, plus sustaining some knee and hip injuries, I'd be looking for the something that will eat up the chop.

Go do a few comparison sea trials. You'll see.

[Radiater]

I'm with Tmack on this one.

I've driven on many and owned a 24' CC in board diesel. They all did the job, but when I got a chance to ride on a cat well it was a whole different experience. Trust me I'd take that 24'er further than most would dare in search of tuna.

Since the smaller boats will tend to pound from time to time, and I don't care whose model it is or what the dead rise is, once you're in a true 3' close in chop, you're going to get fatigued by the end of the day on any monohull CC.

The cats tend to eat up the slop and chop and I believe they will extend your fishing time as well as let you get out in conditions that you might not want to take a monohull out in for fear of losing fillings.

I'm not knocking any boats here I'm just stating in my opinion that if it were me, I'd be looking at Cats.

I've experienced the ride and after coming off too many waves and almost sustaining a back injury, plus sustaining some knee and hip injuries, I'd be looking for the something that will eat up the chop.

Go do a few comparison sea trials. You'll see.

Yeah, that's kind of where I'm at.

Spent time on all the boats I've listed above and at some point they all pound. 30 to 40 miles of pounding gets old especially with some old injuries mixed in.

Subjectively the cat seemed to ride better to me and you could go for miles and miles into a head sea at 22kts that would make you cringe in a smaller monohull.....wouldn't have beileved it if I hadn't been on the boat to see it first hand.

Drawbacks to the cat to me were that it had some unusual side to side motions in a beam sea and was wet (sneezing) but that may be worth it for the level of overall comfort and fishability.

Every stinking boat is a tradeoff in one way or another.

Love the 23 Formula/24 Albe hull but not much real fish storage to speak of in the ones I've seen and frankly I'm no boat builder so redoing an old Formula would be nice in theory but I know it just wouldn't get done.

The Southport is an excellent hull(been on a 26 a few times) but too wide to trailer without a permit (legally) and the layout is cramped (IMO) so that's out.

[cdail28590]

From people I have talked to about cats it seems the 23 WC rode better than the 27. You might want to send a PM to DoubleXL about this as he has had a 23, 27, and now a 33 WC and he can give you real world comparison. I think it would be hard to beat a 25 Carolina Classic if you like I/O's. The weight of the Carolina Classic and the 24 degree deadrise rides better than the others listed when the days real nasty but they are not as fast some of the others listed.

[Fortunate One]

"Drawbacks to the cat to me were that it had some unusual side to side motions in a beam sea and was wet (sneezing) but that may be worth it for the level of overall comfort and fishability."

Yep, I've experienced that too, but I would compromise that for a softer ride.

Especially since I'm not getting any younger.